BY MAJOR EDWARD PREISS.
Mazatlan, January 7th, 1865.
...I send you herewith a sample of Gollindrinera, (Spanish,) Euphorbia prostrata, (Linn.) It is found growing in the territories of New Mexico and Arizona, in the United States, and the provinces of Sonora and Sinaloa, in Mexico. In Jalisco this plant is more scarce, and occurs mostly in a poor condition.
It thrives in hard, sandy or stony soil, and therefore is most frequently found on roadsides, in the streets of villages and in house-yards. In Mazatlan I found a plant with branches, measuring two feet.
It is a remedy against the bites of snakes and other venomous animals.
During my voyage in New Mexico, I camped on the 5th of June, 1864, at noon, between Cubera and Pawate, near a waterhole. A Pueblo-Indian approached me, and entered into a conversation. He could read and write Spanish, and was very well versed on the map of the country. Noticing a snake in the waterhole, I asked him whether there were many rattlesnakes in those parts, to which he gave an affirmative answer. On questioning him whether Indians frequently died from snake-bites, he answered: “No, as they have an antidote against the poison.” At my request, accompanied by a gift of some cigarritos, he brought me a plant, which he gathered from the roadside, and which he called “Gollindrinera.” He told me that nobody ever died, not even from the bite of a rattlesnake, if this plant was applied in time. At the same time he told how it was used.
In Mexico I also found the country people well acquainted with the property of this plant. They apply it when their domestic animals are injured by venomous amphibia or insects.
The branches and roots of this plant contain a quantity of a milky sap. This is obtained by pounding and squeezing the plant, and is given to the patient in doses of about one drachm. The remaining fibres of the pressed-out plant are externally applied on the wound. The dose is repeated every hour,—or in aggravated cases, every half hour,—until the patient feels relieved; which will occur in a few hours. The external application must be frequently renewed.
I ascertained from reliable authority, that two dogs, being bitten by rattlesnakes, were cured, one after four, and the other after six repetitions of the dose. The poultice was frequently changed. Both dogs were perfectly restored within twenty-four hours.
Tepic, March 28th, 1865.